Fritz Krause (General)

Fritz Krause
Birth name	Karl Gustav Fritz Krause
Birth date	29 January 1895(1895-01-29)
Place of birth	Dahme, Kreis Jüterbog-Luckenwalde, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	17 February 1975 (aged 80)
Place of death	Ingelheim am Rhein, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1913–1945
Rank	Major General
Commands held	164. leichte Afrika-Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ 1927 Ilse Stier

Karl Gustav Fritz Krause (29 January 1895 – 17 February 1975) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Major General and divisional commander in World War II.

Military career (chronology)

Source: BArch PERS 6/1514

German generals and staff officers in the British prisoner of war camp Trent Park Camp (de) north of London. Fritz Krause (standing, 3rd from left) and Karl Otto Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein (sitting, 2nd from right) are sometimes confused. Krause and von Liebenstein were there together from June 1943 to March 1945.

Son Dr. phil. Dieter Krause died 2016 in Stuttgart

• 11 Mar 1913 Joined the 2. Niederschlesisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 41
• 2 August 1914 Orderly officer with the Staff of the I. Battalion (Abteilung)/Reserve-Feldartillerie Regiment Nr. 9
• 21 March 1915 Adjutant of the I. Battalion (Abteilung)/Reserve-Feldartillerie Regiment Nr. 9
• 23 December 1916 Battery officer with the Reserve-Feldartillerie Regiment Nr. 9
• 4 April to 12 May 1917 Battery leader course
• 14 May 1917 Appointed battery leader (Batterie-Führer) with the Reserve-Feldartillerie Regiment Nr. 9
• 29 July to 9 September 1918 Company leader course with the Infanterie-Regiment „von Courbière“ (2. Posensches) Nr. 19
• 10 September 1918 Orderly officer with the Staff of the 9th Reserve Division
• 17 November 1918 Again appointed battery leader (Batterie-Führer) with the Reserve-Feldartillerie Regiment Nr. 9 for demobilization
• 28 December 1918 to 31 January 1920 Border-Protection (Freikorps) in Upper Silesia (Grenzschutz in Oberschlesien)
  • 27 February 1919 Appointed battery leader (Batterie-Führer) with the Feldartillerie-Regiment „von Podbielski“ (1. Niederschlesisches) Nr. 5/V. Armeekorps
  • 26 March 1919 Battery officer with the 2. Niederschlesisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 41
• 26 January 1920 with effect from 1 October 1919 Transferred to the 6th Reichswehr Artillery Regiment
• 27 September 1920 with effect from 1 October 1920 Transferred to the 3rd Artillery Regiment
  • 21 September to 20 December 1919 Commanded to the Artillery School in Jüterbog
• 1 January 1921 Officially assumed his duties with the 3rd Artillery Regiment
• 20 September with effect from 1 October 1921 Commanded to the Gruppenkommando 1 in Berlin
• 18 March 1922 Military district examination (Wehrkreisprüfung)
• 16 March with effect from 31 March 1923 Return to the 3rd Artillery Regiment
• 15 September with effect from 1 October 1923 Commanded to the Military District III in Berlin
• 5 September with effect from 1 October 1925 Commanded to the Artillery School
• 16 December with effect from 31 December 1926 Return to the 3rd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment
  • 1927 with the Staff of the IV. Battalion
  • 1928 with the Staff of the Trainings Battalion in Potsdam
  • 1929 with the Commander of the Trainings Battalion (Ausbildungs-Bataillon) in Potsdam
• 1 October 1930 Commander of the 6th Battery/II. Bataillon/3rd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment in Frankfurt an der Oder
  • 2 October to 29 October 1931 Commanded to the shooting course for artillery officers in Jüterbog
  • 3 May 1933 Military Driver's License 3 (MKF 3)
• 4 May to 15 September 1934 Various commands to the Artillery School Jüterbog
  • 2 August 1934 Newly sworn-in
• 1 October 1934 Commander of the IV. Battalion/Artillerie-Regiment Schweidnitz
• 15 October 1934 Commander of the IV. Battalion/Artillerie-Regiment 64 in Ohlau
  • 21 July to 19 August 1937 Head of the Senior Officer Cadet Course (Oberfähnrich-Lehrgang) of the VIII. Armeekorps at the Neuhammer military training area
• 7 November 1938 Commander of the Artillerie-Regiment 36
• 14 February with effect from 20 January 1941 Artillerie-Kommandeur 142 (Arko 142)
  • Army Artillery in the Prague Military District
• 10 December 1941 Artillerie-Kommandeur 104 (Arko 104) in Saint-Léonard (French Channel coast)
  • On 23 September 1942, the Arko was promoted to Higher Artillery Commander Africa
• 23 September 1942 Höherer Artillerie-Kommandeur (HArko) of the German-Italian Panzer Army (Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee, Armata Corazzata Italo-Tedesca)
  • 16 January or 18 February to 13 March 1943 At the same time, delegated with the Leadership of the 164th Light Africa Division
• 15 April 1943 Delegated with the Leadership of the 334th Infantry Division
• 9 May 1943 Captured by the British near Bizerta, Tunisia in North Africa
• 27 June 1947 Released and repatriated

Family

Fritz Krause was born the son of customs director (Zolldirektor) Paul Krause and his wife Anna, née Pohl.

Marriage

On 2 February 1927, Krause received permission to marry. On 26 April 1927 in Berlin, Captain Krause married his fiancée Ilse Elisabeth Auguste Marie Stier (b. 20 June 1904 in Berlin), daughter of Berlin psychiatrist, university professor and military doctor Generaloberarzt Prof. Dr. med. Hermann Otto Ewald Stier (1874–1962). Stier was the most important German military psychiatrist until the Weimar Republic and, from the turn of the century, the author of numerous writings on the subject of mental retardation in the military. The couple had three sons:

• Paul Günt(h)er Ulrich (b. 27 March 1928 in Potsdam)
• Ewald Hans Gerhard (b. 19 October 1930 in Frankfurt an der Oder; d. 23 October 2017 in Königswinter), Dr. Krause was government director (Regierungsdirektor) at the Federal Ministry of Finance, head of department at an international NATO organization, later a painter and chairman of the VVI citizens' association (Bürgervein VVI e. V.) in Ittenbach
• Dieter (b. 21 January 1935 in Ohlau, Province of Lower Silesia; d. 24 June 2016 in Stuttgart), Dr. phil. Krause and his wife Angela lived in the Marquardtstraße 21, 70186 Stuttgart

Promotions

• 11 March 1913 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 14 August 1913 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (Officer Candidate with Corporal/NCO/Junior Sergeant rank)
• 20 November 1913 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 19 June 1914 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 27 June 1912
• 16 September 1917 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 1 June 1925 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1 May 1934 Major

Wehrmacht

• 2 October 1936 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with effect from 1 October 1936
• 31 May 1939 Oberst (Colonel) with effect from 1 June 1939
• 12 July 1942 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 July 1942

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 15 October 1914
  • 1st Class on 28 November 1917
• Silesian Eagle Order (Schlesischer Adler-Orden), II. and I. Grade with Swords
• DRA/Reich Sports Badge (Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen) in Silver in c. 1925
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 29 December 1934
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 2 October 1936
  • 1st Class on 10 May 1938
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 24 October 1939
  • 1st Class on 23 May 1940
• Italian Medal of Military Valor (Ricompense al valor militare) in Silver
• Medal for the Italian-German campaign in Africa
• Africa Cuff Band (Ärmelband „Afrika“)
• German Cross in Gold on 20 August 1942 as Generalmajor and Artillerie-Kommandeur 104